1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brush. More particularly, the present invention relates to a self-cleaning brush with interchangeable bristles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hairbrushes have long been used to groom humans and animals. When brushing relatively long and/or coarse hair, however, it is not uncommon for many strands of hair to be removed by the brush after only a few strokes.
Such loose strands of hair are usually trapped within the bristles of the brush. In the case where many strands of hair accumulate among the bristles, cleaning the brush can be both inconvenient and time-consuming. That is to say, the loose strands of hair are typically removed by hand from the brush, one at a time.
It would therefore be desirable to have a more efficient way to remove loose strands of hair that have become trapped with the bristles of a hairbrush during the brushing strokes, so that the brush can be quickly and easily cleaned.
Numerous innovations for brushes have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
FOR EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,580 to Rand teaches a self-cleanable hair brush comprising a main body portion having a handle at one end, a back normally disposed in contact with one side of said main body portion, tufts of bristles secured to said back and extending through openings in said body portion, a plurality of pins rigidly secured to said body portion and normally extending through apertures provided in said back, and a U-shaped clip member pivotally secured to each pair of pins, said clip members in normal operative position of the brush being secured to the upper side of said brush, and said clip members being pivotable to a position in which the legs of the U are in alignment with said pins whereby said back and said body member may be moved away from each other to a brush cleaning position in which the cross members the U-shaped clip members constitute abutments limiting movement so that the back does not become disengaged from the tufts of bristles.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,049 to Green teaches a brush with retractable bristles which comprises an enclosure which has apertures through the top surface, a member which holds the bristles and which is movable upward and downward within the enclosure, bristles one end of which are held in the bristle holding member and the other end of which are aligned with the apertures, means for moving the bristle holding member from a position whereby the bristles extend out through the apertures to a position whereby the bristles are substantially flush with the apertures or just slightly below the apertures and means for retaining the bristle holding member in the two positions described.
STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,617 to Labran teaches a self cleanable hair brush consisting of a back member having a handle at one end and a plurality of clumps of rooted into openings in the back member at an angle to the face of the back member. The bristle clumps pass through a moveable cleaning plate having perforations aligned with the root openings. Plunger means the plate away from the back thereby oscillating the bristles and moving any entangled hair to the edge of the bristles for easy removal therefrom.
YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,997 to Thomas et al. teaches a self-cleaning brush that comprises a body member having a hollow interior compartment and an anterior wall provided with a number of spaced apertures through which the bristles of the brush can project. A bristle supporting member, including a brush head to which the bristles are affixed, is located within the hollow compartment and has a brush head operating member attached to its upper surface which projects through an opening in a posterior wall. The brush head operating member is movable reciprocally within the hollow compartment from a first position, in which the bristles project through registering apertures in the anterior wall, to a second position, where the bristles are fully retracted within the brush body. The retraction of the bristles through the apertures in the anterior wall allows for easy removal of hair or debris from the bristles. The brush head operating member may be locked in any desired position by means of a reciprocable lever member which extends from the brush body. The inner end of the lever member constitutes a so-called xe2x80x9clocking panelxe2x80x9d which fits within one of a plurality of recesses located within the brush head operating member. When the lever is not engaged within one of the recesses in the brush head operating member, the brush head and bristles can be easily extended or retracted as desired.
STILL YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,703 to Koke teaches a hair brush having a foraminous guide plate with holes through which the bristles extend. The bristles have enlarged bulbous free ends, and the holes in the guide plate are larger than the stems of the bristles but smaller than the enlarged ends thereof, so that the guide plate can slide along the bristles but cannot be removed. A laminated cleaning plate has a rubber layer with bristle-receiving holes smaller than the stems of the bristles, so that the holes in the rubber layer tightly engage the bristles. The cleaning plate also has a relatively rigid support sheet with bristle-receiving holes larger than the enlarged ends of the bristles. The rubber layer is bonded to the support sheet, so that the cleaning plate can be entirely removed from the bristles for cleaning purposes, while the guide plate can be brought adjacent the free ends of the bristles to facilitate re-installation of the cleaning plate.
STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,912 to Kawamura teaches hairbrushes having an array of bristles for grooming either humans or animals. Loose strands of hair that become trapped among the bristles during the brushing strokes are collected and relocated for quick and easy removal from the brush. The foregoing is achieved by either sliding a hair collecting plate axially along the bristles or by moving a bristle carrying plate to which the bristles are connected through a hollow brush head so that the bristles slide axially through holes formed in the top of the brush head.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for brushes have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
ACCORDINGLY, AN OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a self-cleaning brush with interchangeable bristles that avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a self-cleaning brush with interchangeable bristles that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
STILL ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a self-cleaning brush with interchangeable bristles that is simple to use.
BRIEFLY STATED, YET ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a self-cleaning brush that includes a body and a bristle assembly that is interchangeably mounted to the body. The body is fork-shaped and terminates in bifurcations with grooves that extend longitudinally in their lengths, and a plate that extends from one bifurcation to the other bifurcation and is filled with a plurality of throughbores. The bristle assembly includes a backing plate that fits between the bifurcations, a plurality of bristles that depend from the backing plate and selectively pass through the plurality of throughbores, respectively, and when the plurality of bristles are in the plurality of throughbores, the backing plate is disposed against the plate and adjacently below the grooves, a grasp that is resilient and disposed on the backing plate, and a retaining plate that is slidably and selectively disposed in the grooves, and when the plurality of bristles pass through the plurality of throughbores and the retaining plate is in the grooves, the retaining plate presses on, and compresses, the grasp, compressingly locking the bristle assembly in place, and when the retaining plate is slide out of the grooves, the bristle assembly is free to be removed and interchanged.
The novel features which are considered characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawing.